“Climate Change Question and Answer” Fact Sheet

Published: June 29, 2010

Ruskin’s AB 1365 Updates State Planning Priorities

With the threat of climate change growing worse by the day, a historic bill to tackle the issue was passed by the California Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee on a bipartisan, 8 to1 vote. Authored by Assemblymember Ira Ruskin (D-Redwood City), and sponsored by State Controller Steve Westly, the bill (AB 1365) updates the State Planning Priorities to include an additional goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 7% by 2010 and 10% by 2020 based on the 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels.

“From cities in my district to cities across the state and around the globe, we face a serious threat from climate change,” said California Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials. “It’s well past time to tackle this growing threat by adding a climate change goal to California’s State Planning Priorities. The world’s top scientists have told us that climate change is not only real it is already taking place. The good new is we have solutions, like this bill, that can turn the tide without harming our economy.”

“You can’t argue with solid scientific evidence that Global Warming is a real threat to humanity,” said State Controller Westly. “As the sixth largest economy in the world, we should lead the effort to stop the damaging effects of Global Warming and join other industrialized nations in adopting Kyoto Protocol Standards.”

“After decades of studying climate change, a global consensus has emerged: Climate change is real, has already begun, and poses a grave threat to the United States and the world,” said Dr. Peter H. Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute and a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. “The failure of the United States to act means that states must begin the process. This historic bill is a first step in that direction.”

The standards-setting bill will encourage companies, government agencies and individuals to improve efficiency and curtail the pollution that causes climate change without creating onerous new regulation.

Dr. Ron Cohen, UC Berkeley Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Earth and Planetary Science, said: “Our state has a long tradition of scientific and technical leadership. A proactive stance on greenhouse gas reduction is likely to reinforce ongoing efforts in California’s academic and commercial sectors to develop economically sensible solutions for reducing greenhouse gases. Such developments will further California’s advantage in high technology producing new jobs here while leading the world to a more stable climate.”

“The evidence has never been clearer: Time is running out and immediate action is imperative,” Assemblymember Ruskin concluded.

Along with rising sea levels, more intense storms, and more frequent and intense droughts, climate change may severely affect California’s agricultural industry, its wine-growing regions, and its ski industry. Climate change is also very likely to play havoc with the state’s water supply by changing when and where we get rain, by raising temperatures, and by impacting how quickly our snow pack melts.

AB 1365 is supported by the Sierra Club, California League of Conservation Voters, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Pacific Institute.

Questions and Answers about Climate Change

Prepared by the Pacific Institute of Oakland, California, April 22, 2005 in support of California AB1365

Question: Is climate change real and is it really happening?

“After decades of studying climate change, a global consensus has emerged: Climate change is real, has already begun, and poses a grave threat to the United States and the world,” said Dr. Peter H. Gleick, an internationally recognized expert on climate change and water resources. Dr. Gleick is President of the Pacific Institute, a member of the United Nations Sigma Xi Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Advisory Group, and a 2003 MacArthur Fellow.

In fact, most of the world’s largest oil companies (Royal Dutch/Shell, British Petroleum, and ChevronTexaco) have all acknowledged that climate change is real, caused in part by humans, and requires action. Ron Oxburgh, chairman of Royal Dutch/Shell, has admitted that the threat of climate change makes him “really very worried for the planet” according to published reports. “No one can be comfortable at the prospect of continuing to pump out the amounts of carbon dioxide that we are pumping out at present… with consequences that we really can’t predict but are probably not good.”

Beyond Theory: Observable Signs of Climate Change

“These phenomena are complex, and there are many uncertainties, but we now have scores of irrefutable observations that show we are already changing the Earth’s climate,” noted Gleick. “These signs include higher global temperatures, losses of snow and ice, increased storm intensity, rising ocean levels, and changing behavior of plants and animals.”

According to a recent study by the British Antarctic Survey: “Most of the glaciers on the Antarctic peninsular are in headlong retreat because of climate change… An in-depth study using aerial photographs spanning the past half century of all 244 marine glaciers on the west side of the finger-like peninsular pointing up to South America found that 87 percent of them were in retreat — and the speed was rising.”

According to Sir David King, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, climate change is “the most severe problem we face today…”

According to a report produced by the Union of Concerned Scientists: “Sea levels along the California coast will likely continue rising over the next century… Consequences could be especially severe during El Niño years, when sea levels and coastal waves along the California coast are already unusually high and winter storms can bring torrential rains. Higher sea levels could also allow saltwater intrusion into aquifers and the rich ecosystems found at the mouths of rivers.”

The report goes on to note that ” San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, which can increase the risk of storm damage, erosion, and flooding of leveed islands, valuable real estate, and rich wetland eco-systems.”

According to a Pacific Institute report published in 1990, a one meter sea level rise would cost several billion dollars to protect against and that “We think it unlikely that the status quo around the Bay can be maintained under conditions of expected sea-level rise, even with extensive efforts to build protective structures.”

2) Climate change is predicted to play havoc with California’s water supply

According to Dr. Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute: “Climate change won’t just result in warmer temperatures. One of the most troubling impacts of unchecked climate change involves California’s water supply. Global warming will change when and where we get snow and rain. If our snow pack melts too quickly or if water that falls as snow turns to rain, we’ll see more flooding in the winter and less water during the summer when we need it most.” Dr. Gleick was lead author of the U.S. National Assessment report for water resources.

According to Professor Lisa Sloan, University of California, Santa Cruz: “With less precipitation falling as snow and more as rain, plus higher temperatures creating increased demand for water, the impacts [of climate change] on our water storage system will be enormous.”

3) California’s agricultural sector, environment and the health of its residents could be seriously affected by Climate Change

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists: “Higher temperatures could also affect California’s leading agricultural products, reducing dairy production and diminishing the quality of wine grapes in all but the coolest grape growing regions.” According to the same report, Climate change may increase the number of heat related deaths in California, unless preventative measures or taken, and, climate change, is likely to alter California’s natural environment significantly.

Question: Isn’t climate change a global issue, not a state issue?

Climate change is clearly a global issue – greenhouse gases from around the world combine in the atmosphere. However, there are several reasons California should take the lead among U.S. states: California contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions, we are a leader in renewable technology and thus could benefit economically by encourage efficiency and greenhouse gas reductions; and by “leading by example” we would encourage other states and the federal government to act in concert with us.

Responding to climate change could actually help our economy, by stimulating new industries, by taking actions before other states do, and by helping to reduce long-term impacts. California is already a leader in the clean, high-tech industries that create solar installations and develop and build other kinds of renewable technology. The state is home to several of the largest solar system builders in the United States, PowerLight in Berkeley and Pacific Power Management in Auburn.

According to the head of British Petroleum, the oil company is on target to reduce green house gas emissions by 10% below 1990 levels by 2010 – twice the rate set out in the Kyoto treaty. And, even more surprisingly, British Petroleum hit its target at no net economic cost.

Question: Do we have the technology to respond to climate change now?

According to Xcel energy CEO Wayne Brunetti, we have the technology to significantly reduce emissions: “Give us a date, tell us how much we need to cut, give us the flexibility to meet the goals, and we’ll get it done.”